Fixing You
by insaneshadowfangirl
Summary: Sequel to Breaking Manic. The Underground rescued Manic, but some wounds run more than skin deep. Can they put their brother back together in time for the Day of Prophecy? Or is he too shattered by his experiences at the hands of Sleet?
1. You Are My Sunshine

Insane: Welcome to the sequel of Breaking Manic! Be sure you've read that before beginning this.

Manic: *sniffle*

Insane: *hugs him* I don't own Sonic the hedgehog. This is the Sequel to Breaking Manic, so warning; Past rape, dark themes, mental breakdowns... Don't read this unless you've read the first one.

~! !#$%^&*)

_"Behave yourself, bitch!"_

_"I-I'm s-sorry..."_

_"I TOLD you to be quiet!"_

_He squeezed his eyes shut waiting for the inevitable punishment. It wasn't his fault he screamed, what did Master expect him to do when a knife was shoved unceremoniously into his ass?_

_He heard paper tearing and went rigid. _Not that, **anything** but that...

_"Open your mouth!"_

_Obediently, he opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out. The foul-tasting powder was emptied onto his tongue (it was tasteless when dissolved into water, not that he received that mercy often) and he was given a trickle of water to allow him to swallow._

_His ears flattened, his eyes closed, and he desperately tensed, trying to brace himself. A familar rubber smell entered his nose and his mouth opened to accept the gag with out hesitation._

_Then the drug kicked in, and all he could remember was pain._

Manic shot up in bed, whining in fear. _It was just a nightmare! Everything is fine... finefinefinefine..._

"Manic?" A sleepy sounding female voice asked softly. He turned his head to see a human girl with long black hair (Usually in a braid of some kind) blinking bleary green eyes at him, tiredly. "Are you okay?" She sat up in her chair- she'd appearently been sitting by his bedside when she'd fallen asleep- and raised her arms, rolling and popping her shoulder joints. As she did so, her body seemed to glow, shifting and changing until a lilac-furred, violet-eyed hedgehog with upturned quills was sitting in the human's place.

"I'm fine..." He mumbled, sounding pathetic even in his own broken mind.

"Bull." It was a simple statement, blunt but true. "You were thrashing around and whimpering in your sleep. Nightmare?"

"... Yeah." He admitted grudingly. "I-I'm sorry I woke you up, Snow Angel." He didn't want to think about what she'd do if she were angry at him. She might turn him into a popsicle or beat him or-

The girl glared. "Stop that train of thought this instant, Manic Takashi Hedgehog!" She snapped. "I will not hurt you. I am not Sleet. He _will **not** touch you again!_" There was a fire in her eyes, which really seemed out of place - for an ice elemental, she sure had a firey temper.

"I-I know, Insane..." Manic whispered. "It's just..."

"I know." Insane said quietly. "But it'll all be okay. The only way that bastard is going to get you again is over the dead bodies of the rest of the Underground. I swear!"

Manic sighed. "Thanks, Insane..."

The Changeling smiled sightly. "Now, to get you back to sleep..."

He went rigid. "I d-don't-"

"Shh..." She said, gently. "I'll make sure to keep the nightmares away."

He nodded, shakily. Insane closed her eyes and began to sing, with an almost angelic voice.

_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..._

_You make me happy..._

_When skies are grey..._

_You'll never know, dear, _

_How much I love you..._

_Please don't take my sunshine away..._

_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..._

_You're my reason_

_To rise each day..._

_You'll never know, dear..._

_How much I need you..._

_Please don't take my sunshine away..._

_You'll never know, dear,_

_How much I love you..._

_Please don't take my sunshine away..."_

Manic allowed the warmth in her voice to wash over him, falling back into slumber, this time, peaceful.

~! #$%^&*()-

And that's the first chapter. Don't worry, we'll see the rest of the Underground next chapter.


	2. Morning Worries

Manic: *sitting in corner, crying*

Insane: Shhh...

Manic: *sniff*

Insane: I don't own STH.

~! #$%^&*()-

Manic blinked awake in the dark of his bedroom. He could see morning light filtering from behind the curtains, and could smell breakfast cooking in the kitchen.

The next thing he became aware of was the small black kitten cuddled in his arms. _Wait, since when do we have a kitten?_

That question was put on hold as the little black furball woke up, squirmed out of his hold, and stretched. She jumped down from the bed and wandered over to the door, turning her head and meowing at him.

The green hedgehog carefully climbed out of bed, eyes nervously searching for danger. He stopped at the door, staring at the portal to the next room in fear.

_"If the door is closed, you don't leave! Period!"_

A scratching noise brought him out of his memories before they could get worse. The kitten seemed to be trying to get out by scratching the door.

"Don't do that!" He scolded shakily. _I'm nothing. Worthless, not good for anything but a fuck. _He wrapped his arms around himself to stave off an imagined cold. _Why would the kitty listen to me when I'm lower than it?_

The cat looked up at him, Emerald eyes melancholy.

"Meow?"

The thief blinked, glancing down at her. "D-Do you w-want out?" _Goddess, I'm so pathetic. Can't even talk to a kitty without stuttering._

"Meow!"

He felt stupid taking to the cat, that is until she nodded, meowing insistently.

"I'm not s-supposed t-to!"

"Meow."

_Great, now I'm being scolded by a CAT. Master is one thing, but... No! Worthless, lower than dirt. Don't forget, now. Everybody and thing is better than you, ESPECIALLY Master._

"Meow!" She batted at his hand.

"Oh, alright..." Cautiously, he glanced around before slowly turning the doorknob, opening the entryway to reveal his sister standing with her hand in a position that suggested she was about to knock. Or hit him, but since it was unlikely she knew he was on the other side of the door, he'd hope she was going to knock.

"Manic?" Sonia asked worriedly, tilting her head. "Are you alright?"

"M'fine, sis. Really."

She looked skeptical, but thankfully let it slide.

"The kitty wanted out. When'd you get a cat?" His voice was quiet; it almost never went above a whisper anymore.

Sonia felt a pang of sadness as she observed her brother. Ever since they'd rescued him, he'd been quiet and reclusive and dare she say submissive, a word she'd never have described ANY of her family with before Manic was taken from them.

As for the cat, that wasn't her secret to tell, though she DID give the kitten a sharp look, recieveing an innocent miaow in response. "She belongs to Insane." A half-truth.

"Oh." The response was even quieter than the question, and Manic's eyes were glued to the floor. Sonia sighed.

"Come have some breakfast." She took him into the kitchen, where Sonic had eggs on the stove.

It had taken months of Insane, and to a lesser extent Manic, teaching her and Sonic how to cook before anything they'd made had come out remotely edible, but it was worth it in the end. Now they could all cook basics, and breakfast, when they could get it, was usually quick and simple, such as eggs.

Sonia noticed Manic attempting to seat himself on the floor, and steered the thief to his chair. Insane walked in as she was doing so, human form and bleary eyed. It seemed that, despite appearing wide awake when she'd been clawing at the door in feral form, her more 'complex' side still needed morning coffee. A mug of the stuff was plonked in front if both her, and her godsister. Sonia thanked her sibling, while Insane simply grunted.

Insanity Fangirl hated mornings. It was fine, she supposed, when she was a feral, with less complex emotions and an animal outlook, but all that went away when she assumed her other two 'base' forms.

Changelings were a very interesting species, as a whole. Once regarded as bad luck by many, a Changeling being born was seen as a sign of hard times coming ahead. This was, of course, just a superstition, but that didn't stop people from holding her heritage against her, particularly because Robotnik took power shortly after her birth.

Contrary to popular belief, Changelings are not capable of transforming into anything at will. Instead, they tend to have three 'base' forms, that of a Human, Mobian, and Feral. Human and Mobian are often accessible from birth, while Feral takes a fair amount of practice. What these forms appear as -Species, race, colorings, markings, Etc- depended on the Changeling in question. From their base, they can change their appearance, such as eye, fur/hair color, actual appearance, and even species. However, the more a Changeling veers from their base, the more tiring it is to keep the transformation going, and when they run out of the special energy needed to change, they revert back to their base.

In example, when Insane changes her fur color from purple to green, she could keep it that way for a long time without even feeling a strain. Same thing if she changes her eyes green as well. Straightening out her upward-flicking quills would be a little harder, as would adding messy ones on her forehead. Hiding her gender would be the most difficult. She could stay in a form disguising her as Manic for about a month.

A species change was the most taxing, only lasting a week, maximum, and that was if she made no other aesthetic changes.

Similar, as a human, changing race was the most difficult.

Feral transformations were a different case all together, as it took practice just to enter that form, and she'd only recently managed it. Now, like the others, she could stay in the base all she wanted, but in order to change from a cat she'd have to practice even more.

Another interesting thing about Feral form was that, when in it, a Changeling took on the less complex thought process and emotional systems of the animal. As a cat, even in kitten stage, Insane already carried the 'the cat owns you, not the other way around' air, and her thoughts now were mainly 'keep mate safe'.

The energy Changelings use for their powers was like a muscle, the more they used it, the easier it became, as well as making thier reserves larger.

So Insane had a long ways to go before she was ever truly a full-strength Changeling, but she was more confident in her ability to master that than her ice element, which still came out at the weirdest of times and at varying strength. Like that time she sneezed last week and started a minor blizzard in the control room, causing Cyrus to kick her out.

Oops.

Sonic turned off the stove, sighing. Eggs went onto the plates, which went in front of his siblings. The blue hedgehog was depressed.

His little brother was hurting, they still couldn't find Aleena, and he was starting to show signs of being a lightning elemental, which would be dangerous and increase his fear of water tenfold.

He didn't think things could get much worse.

How wrong he was.


	3. Clashing Sisters, Insane's Plan, Secrets

Sane: Oh, hello... I'm not Insane, even though I may look like her. I'm just filling in, as she's busy.  
Manic: *petting a black cat with green eyes* G-good k-kitty...  
Insane: Meow...  
Sane: This is where I point out that my counterpart doesn't own STH, right?  
Insane: Meow! *nodding*  
-:-:-:-

Sonic sighed. After breakfast, Manic had sat on the floor next to the couch, refusing to sit on the actual furniture. No amount of coaxing would get him to move, it seemed.

It was frustrating. They had their brother back, but it just wasn't _Manic_. It was like some other boy was wearing his skin. Sonic felt anger course through him, just thinking about what Sleet had done to his little brother.

Anger wasn't the only thing flowing, though, and the blue speed demon yelped and dropped the dish he was drying in surprise as sparks flew from his fingertips.

"You okay, Sonic?" Insane's voice called from the storeroom.

"Fine! Everything is great, I just dropped a plastic plate!"

"Okay!" A pause. "Also I froze the door and I'm stuck in here!"

"Why did you freeze the DOOR?!" Sonia demanded from what sounded like her bedroom.

"Well I didn't do it on purpose, SAP!"

"Are you _ever_ gonna learn how to control your ice?!"

"Are you _ever_ gonna stop being annoying?!"

"Girls! Quit fighting!" More sparks flew in his irritation, though he only vaguely noticed. Sonic could've sworn those two were complete opposites in everything. They went together like oil and water.

"Sorry, Blue!"

"Sorry Sonic!"

The blue blur sighed again. Would those two ever get along? Just another issue to add to the list. Not to mention Sonia seemed to be hiding something herself.

"I'm still stuck in here!"

"Ugh!"

The eldest of the group spared his younger brother another worried glance before leaving the room to try and help his godsister out of her self-made trap.

Sonia Hedgehog prided herself on being very comfortable in her own skin. She always had, and had thought she always would. That all changed the day she met Insanity Fangirl.

The Changeling possessed a mannerism that never failed to get under her skin; it was like she exsisted to irritate her. Sonia honestly trusted her godsister with her life, yet something deep inside had always shouted 'DANGER! Keep away from her!' when she went near.

When they'd first met, Sonia had thought it was because of the differences in how they were raised. She'd been placed on a noblewoman's doorstep, while Insane had been left with the leader of a gypsy group.

According to her sister, when Insane was seven, the camp was attacked by SwatBots that may or may not have been looking for her. She didn't like talking about it, but she did tell them that she was the only survivor, and that nobody was left alive to Roboticize. She spent the next two years on the streets, right up until the Underground met and formed, when they were nine.

Meanwhile, Sonia lived a life in the lap of luxury, being warned of the dangers of associating with the Resistance, of the theives that ran around unchecked, and of course that gypsies were all sorts of terrifying. She'd been told they followed Eris, the supposed Goddess of Chaos, and did evil rituals in the moonlight to honor her. Bartleby had told her once that they practiced black magic and would curse her for being so beautiful. She'd heard they could see the future, as well.

Of course, once she actually met one, all those superstitions flew out the window. Sure, she scraped part of her food into the fire in sacrifice to Lady Eris whenever she could (They weren't always near to fire when they ate.), sure she could do some interesting little tricks and even spells and hexes, but none of them were black magic, just things like giving people the hiccups or making the lights flicker. And as for evil rituals in the moonlight?

_Sonia awoke to the sound of a door opening. What time was it?! It had to be like midnight. The pink hedgie had no idea who would be up at this time of night, but she intended to find out._

_The ten-year-old poked her head out of the room, glancing at the doors to each of her siblings' rooms. Sonic's was shut, as was Manic's... Insane's was ajar, and a quick peek inside proved it empty._

_Curious as to what the changeling could be up to, the heroine threw on a jacket and left the hall. The kitchen door leading outside was unlocked, so she carefully opened it and wandered outside._

_And there she was, sitting cross-legged in a patch of dirt, black hair out of its braid and tumbling down her back, the wind whipping around her. Sonia could see strange symbols drawn in the filth around her. There was what seemed to be a bowl of fresh strawberries sitting in front of her._

_Insane was chanting, her voice calm and clear but the language indecipherable. Whatever she was speaking, it wasn't English or Mobian. Sonia felt a surge of fear. This looked just like she'd always expected a freaky ritual to look!_

_The pink and red hedgehog didn't stick around to watch the rest of it, just made a run for it, never noticing green eyes locking onto her back._

_If she'dve stayed, Sonia would've seen the grass and life around the area Insane was in get fuller and stronger, more lively. Then she'dve seen a sight that very few ever got to see, the Goddess of Chaos herself._

_That was what she learned, anyway, when she confronted Insane the next morning._

The next time her sister went out to do a ritual, she found herself invited to watch. This one purified the river that Robotnik had been dumping factory waste into. When it was over, Sonia apologized for her behavior.

The uneasy feeling never went away, though, so Sonia had crossed off 'the way we were raised' on the list.

Then there was their personalities. Sonia was a smart girl, a straight-A student with a level head and a down-to-Mobius attitude. She was calm most of the time, but she had a blazing temper.

Insanity was just that, insanity. No matter how often Sonia tried to figure her out, the changeling was nothing short of chaotic. She was almost never calm, always bouncing from thing to thing and thought to thought with reckless abandon. Nothing about her made sense or was stable; it was as if she was made of liquid sugar! Ice elementals tended to have a cold disposition and icy temper, but an angry Insane was like a volcano erupting, a volcano that swore and shrieked at you while trying to bash your head in with a metal rod.

But as different as their personalities were, Sonia had been fairly certain that wasn't it, either.

And she was right, because just recently she'd been writing out an angry passage about Bartleby in her diary when...

_Poof!_

It sponteneously combusted.

And that was when she'd learned she was a budding fire elemental. And it all made sense! Fire and ice were opposing forces on the elemental scale, so of course they'd fight like cats and dogs!

But Sonia was worried that news like that could cause trouble and stress in the family, and she knew they didn't need that while already worried for Manic.

So she'd decided to keep quiet, for a while.

Sonic finished chipping at the ice on the door to find Insane standing on the other side, smiling sheepishly.

"Thanks, bro." She ambled past him, towards the living area of their section of the Resistance base. As she did, she shifted to feral form.

Her plan was simple, and worthy of the sneaky little kitty she was. Manic was awkward and nervous around them, scared of almost everyone. But he was scared of being alone, too. The night before, she'd seen it written all over her mate's face when he'd awoken. So, she came up with a plan; to keep the fear and bad memories at bay by being there for him, but as a cat so he wouldn't realize it was her, which would hopefully make him more at ease.

She climbed into his lap and demanded petting. Her mate smiled shakily, and she could smell his fear, but she simply cuddled into his arms and meowed again. As one of her mate's hands carded through her fur, Insane thought of her plan and decided it was a good one.

What could possibly go wrong?


	4. Fear of Falling

Insane: Yay! Background info over! Now more Manic!  
Manic: Me?  
Insane: Yes. I don't own you, but you knew that.  
;7;$:8,&

Manic was curled up on his bed, a nest of blankets surrounding him in an attempt to provide some kind of comfort. It had been about three o'clock when Cyrus had called with an emergency rescue mission for the others. Something about a large shipment of prisoners for Roboticizing. The end result was a lonely and scared green hedgehog, by himself in the base.

Manic was near tears in frustration and fear. He jumped at every single small noise, some part of his mind telling him it was Master back to get him, to make him pay for running off.

Just the thought had him burrowing deeper into the sheets. I don't wanna go back! Master will be so very angry... His spines stiffened in his fear, catching on the blanket and tearing it. Oops! Wh-what do I d-do!? He was hyperventilating. Breathe! In and out, in and out... Don't panic! Th-they s-said they wouldn't hurt me... B-but that was before he tore the blankets.

They would punish him, he was sure of it! Breathe! Still hyperventilating... Don't panic! You deserve it!

Breathe breathe breathe...

A warm hand suddenly carded through his quills, and he stilled.

"Shh, baby..." A calm, sweet, melodic voice whispered. "Everything is okay... Mommy's here, baby..."

She'd been scared and worried for her baby boy, the youngest of all her children, when Sleet had kidnapped him.

Oh, she'd only wanted a peek, just a look, just to see with her own eyes her little one was still there. But when she'd found him he'd been in the middle of a full blown panic attack, and her heart had nearly shattered. It had taken everything she had not to just take the boy and hide him away from the rest of the world so she could protect him forever, prophecy be damned.

But Aleena wouldn't leave her son on his own like this. So she'd climbed through the window.

He burrowed into her embrace, love and warmth surrounding him like a blanket, and for the first time since he'd been kidnapped, felt at ease. He knew she'd be gone and this wonderful feeling would go away, but for now he would be calm and happy in the embrace of the one person he instinctually knew would never, ever hurt him.

"L-love you, Ma..."

Aleena knew her heart couldn't take much more of this, knowing she had to leave soon, knowing she couldn't stay around to help her little boy recover. It broke her heart to be closer to any of her children than ever before, but only because he was miserable and shattered.

For the moment, though, she would smile, and remind him that all is not yet over.

"I love you too, my baby boy, my sweet, sweet, Manic..."

She'd stay for a little longer.

/$/725$:)  
Insane: So, short, but mostly Manic. With Aleena!


End file.
